Kenny Dalglish has dismissed criticism aimed at Manchester City as small-minded jealousy

The massively wealthy Eastlands club are often accused of buying success, but Dalglish believes it takes more than that – and he should know.

The Liverpool manager was in a similar position when he steered Blackburn to the title on the back of some big-name signings such as Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton.

And while he thinks there are few similarities between his Rovers side and City’s current crop, he passionately argues money alone is not enough to secure honours.

Dalglish comes face to face with the Premier League’s billionaires tonight, and insisted: “I’m certainly not disrespectful of anything Roberto Mancini has done either at City. It’s not his fault they have wealthy owners and are prepared to spend money. He’ll be judged on results – that’s the only way you can be judged.

“There is no guarantee of instant success just because he has money at his disposal. There’s nobody anywhere who’s won a trophy without having had some money to spend.

“He might have more to spend than most, but along with that comes added pressure. I don’t see how anyone could be disrespectful towards what Roberto Mancini has achieved in football, whether he has money or not.”

Dalglish has mixed feelings about the sniping at City. Similar accusations came his way when Rovers pipped Manchester United to the title.

He admitted the level of jealousy is the same, and has some sympathy for City over that, but feels any similarities end there. “I don’t think there are any ­parallels between City and my Rovers side,” Dalglish added.

“The only thing consistent between the two clubs is everyone else is jealous.

“They certainly were jealous of the perceived money Blackburn supposedly had and are jealous of the money City ­obviously do have. That’s the only parallel I can see – and the sums involved are vastly different.”

Liverpool are hoping to derail City’s title charge this evening, and make it virtually impossible for them to catch their bitter rivals United at the top.

But he fears they will be motivated by the ­jealousy, adding: “At Ewood Park we used the envy as an asset for us when people were going on about our supposed wealth. We never had that much money.

“People believed the players were getting paid fortunes but one player left for another club and got four times the wages he was on at Blackburn. We just laughed at it.

“It was ignorance. People didn’t know what the financial situation was. Yes, we signed Alan Shearer, but Alan Shearer signed because he wanted to play for us as well as the money that was paid.

“If you look at the money that was spent and what came back in to the club you would have to say ­Blackburn did quite well out of it.”

He believes Liverpool may be able to cash in tonight if City have their minds on Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final clash with United. “They will want to win a trophy above all else, so the semi-final will probably take a lot of their attention – we have to hope it does.”